Besides, I believe asians are above fighting.
I have to disagree. The Chinese are very well known for their martial arts. The stereotype that all Chinese know Kung Fu is very real. I know Kung Fu. I can kick kung pow butt. Then marinate the poor fowl.
Any real martial artist would disagree with you and say they do it for exercise, enlightenment, or pure enjoyment. Never to " kick kung pow butt", as you put it. When I said "fighting", I meant uncivilized brutish fighting with the intention to hurt someone. The Chinese and their martial arts wont want do it purely to hurt someone, but for the thrill of competition.donjuan
because it makes them feel like "social rejects" to hang out at bars etc...
Haha, bars. Okay, here's a joke that will make sense to why I think the quote is funny:"A pianist walks into a bar, and hits his head."
Not a scientiic sample by any means but:I've had Eastern European piano teachers, Western European teachers, American, and 2 Asian piano teachers.Both Asian teachers had more profound understanding of the music. They also taught from the perspective of playing musically, not as much technically. I think the generalisations you hear about Asians practicing like maniacs, but playing like robots is both untrue, and a convenient compensation for those who do not have the same work ethic.If you see someone is successful, emulate what they do as a best practice. Go into practice room areas or libraries at 11pm on Saturday nights. Those are the people with drive.I'll make one more observation about the Asian musicians I have known. They have less of an ego about what they do, and more of a "get on with it" attitude. As a contrast, a lot of European and American musicians I know need to constantly be told how good they are, and whine too much about practising. Not a generalisation, just an observation.
It's funny that this post should appear now, my teacher and I were discussing this very topic at the last lesson. It was strange that neither one of us could think of one famous Asian composers. He commented that most of the Asian people had not been exposed to this music until more recently. Meaning it was not as widespread in the Asian cultures as it was in Europe, Russia, Germany, etc.S
Good observations, Hmoll.Here is a possible explanation (correct me if I am wrong) for your Asian piao teachers being the most musical.A (good) teacher will try to teach what the student needs to learn, not what s/he wants to learn, or what s/he thinks s/he should be learning.Therefore a student’s memory of his/her teachers (if s/he had more than one) is that the first teacher only silly pieces and knew nothing of the more advanced repertory, the second teacher only taught about the methodology and importance of practice, the third teacher only taught about technique, and it was only when s/he got to the fourth teacher that they started working on musicality, Oh boy! That last teacher was brilliant! Surely If I was going to be a teacher someday I would start straight form the musical aspects.The point here is that a student’s perceptions of a teacher are always the perception of his/her own limitations/development. Since a teacher must of necessity teach according to what the student can learn. I found interesting what Hmoll said that his last two teachers (Asians – supposed to be the least musical) were the most musical. But were they? Or they were perceived as such simply because they were the last one and could benefit from all the groundwork done by the previous teachers? If the order had been reversed, and the last teachers would have been the first, would that have changed anything in your perception of them?
My memory is actually pretty good and objective.I have a faily accurate idea of what my teachers were like. My first teacher was American, taught a lot of theory, technique, improvisation, repertoire. Her approach was more technical and theoretical, which is just what I needed. I started when I was 15, had fairly natural facility. All other teachers were in college, graduate school, etc. , and they were from all over. The Asian teachers I had were not in a consecutive part of my development, but were mixed in, so were at differing levels of technical/musical development. For two years I had an Asian teacher who did not change anything technically, but built on the equipment I had. Everything - including technical problems - were approached in a musical context. After her I had a European teacher who immediately tried to change everything about my technique, and approached everything based on that change.After that I had an American teacher who did the same. Further down the line, I had another Asian teacher who was very similar - to my relief - to the other Asian teacher. Very good musical instincts, approached everything musically, and built on what I had. That's just my experience, not any sort of scientific sampling.